 Photo By: Stephen Lew Da Boot Sports 7/8/2024 Courtesy of: Crescent City Sports By: Ed Daniels This offseason, Saints head coach Dennis Allen has made it clear he thinks New Orleans has a good number of talented young players that his staff can develop. “When you look at our team, we have some really young talent that has a chance to grow,” said Allen at the NFL meetings in March. “How you can sustain success in this league is to develop young players.” Then, this month at mini-camp Allen said the following. “I think we’ve done as good a job as anybody at developing young players over the course of my time here in New Orleans.” That is continued confidence that there is untapped potential on the Saints roster that the organization believes can improve the results on the field. In no particular order, here are some of the young players with higher ceilings and how they might project. Wide receiver AT Perry, a 6th round pick in 2023, had three touchdown receptions over the final three games and averaged 20.5 yards a reception. At 6-foot-5, Perry could be an even bigger red zone weapon, if the Saints running game inside the 20 improves as hoped. Former first round pick Chris Olave has 159 receptions and nine touchdown catches in his first two seasons. Can the Ohio State product, who turns 24 Thursday, go from real good to great? Fellow wideout Rashid Shaheed had 46 receptions and five touchdowns. A gifted return specialist, he also returned a punt for a score. Shaheed, cut by the Saints in August of 2022, was available to any team via waiver claim. Two years later, if Shaheed has a big year, he could attract significant interest as a restricted free agent. The new offensive coaching staff for New Orleans has several projects for training camp centered around finding missing pieces on the offensive line. Nick Saldiveri, who has zero career starts, will get his chance at left guard. Injuries severely limited Saldiveri in 2023, his rookie year, but the Saints obviously think highly of him. They traded with the Bears to the top of the 4th round to draft him. Former first round pick Trevor Penning was benched last season after struggling mightily at left tackle. The Saints hope a move to right tackle with a new position coach working with him will accelerate Penning’s progress. New Orleans also has Landon Young, who has started seven games after being selected in the 6th round in 2021. The ex-Kentucky standout can play left or right tackle. Running back Kendre Miller certainly looked like a ‘dude’ in the season finale against Atlanta, rushing for 73 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries. If Miller stays healthy, he could quickly justify the Saints for selecting him in the third round of the 2023 ahead of Tyjae Spears (Tennessee) and Devon Achane (Miami). Quarterback Jake Haener, a fourth round pick a year ago, has a solid and accurate arm, but can he make enough good decisions for the Saints to be comfortable with him as their primary backup quarterback? On the opposite side of the ball, defensive tackle Bryan Bresee could make a big leap forward in his second season. If there is a young breakout player for the Saints, last year’s late 1st round pick could be the one. Here are numbers that are hard to ignore. Bresee had 4.5 quarterback sacks, taking less than 50 percent of his team’s defensive snaps. Cornerback Paulson Adebo, who turns 25 in July, had a stellar year in 2023. You could say he even flew under radar. Adebo had a pair of forced fumbles, two fumbled recoveries, four interceptions and 18 passes defensed. Also at that position, Alontae Taylor had two interceptions and 14 passes defensed, but he was also benched in a late season game against the Los Angeles Rams. We shall see where he fits in the defensive scheme since he has seen time at both nickel and boundary corner. Jordan Howden, a 5th round pick had a solid rookie year. Primed to start at safety this season, he had a sack, one forced fumble and five passes defensed in his debut campaign. Defensive end Isaiah Foskey, a second round pick a year ago, is a total unknown. He had just half of a sack in very limited playing time. At 6-5, 270, the former Notre Dame star certainly looks the part, but can he play? Year two will tell a lot. At this point, the Saints’ 2024 draft is an unknown but here are some early takes. Taliese Fuaga will be a staple for the Saints at left tackle. He’s huge and all business. He will make a lot of money in the NFL, and perhaps for a long time. Kool-Aid McKinstry, an interesting pick in Round 2, only had 2 picks in his Alabama career. That number has to go up. He is built thick so he might be a big help from the secondary in run support. Spencer Rattler was a curious pick but you can see why the Saints are high on him. It’s rare for a fifth round quarterback to have his combination of college experience, mobility and a cannon for an arm. Rattler is the perfect stash-and-develop prospect. If he doesn’t turn out to be a good pick, it didn’t cost you much. Wide receiver Bub Means at 6-5 is hard to ignore. At Pitt last season, he averaged more than 17 yards per reception. It could be a Perry vs. Means battle for key snaps this season. At this point, the values of 5th round pick Jaylan Ford, 6th round pick defensive tackle Khristian Boyd and 7th rounder offensive tackle Josiah Ezirim are to be determined. More reps and data are needed to see if they can be Day 3 draft gems. When camp commences in southern California next month, that process of development and learning truly kicks into gear. How the inexperienced investments turn out may determine if New Orleans can perform above middling expectations. The Saints do appear to be accumulating good young talent though. How many will turn from intriguing prospects to quality front line NFL starters? And how quickly? John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior) *John 3;16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. A huge Thank You to Cardio Health Solutions owned by Ron Sancho for sponsoring and believing in our publication!
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